1. Field of Invention
This Invention relates to motor powered scooters. More particularly a construction of a suspensioned all terrain scooter is disclosed in which a frame supporting a platform for standing rider is supported on a large central tubular member. The central tubular member is pivoted somewhere along its length so that the frame halves can rotate in respect to each other along the pivot line. Rotation between frame halves is resisted by a shock absorber with either end mounted to the respective frame halves. When driving over uneven terrain, the weight of the rider forces down upon the rider""s platform, which is connected to one or the other halves of the frame. Subsequently the frame halves pivot allowing the platform a downward motion, which is absorbed by the shock absorber, which is connected to the two frame halves, this suspension system allows the user to transverse uneven terrain with greater comfort, control and safety.
2. Background Art
All terrain-motorized scooters are known. Such scooters have been available since Dec. 25, 1996 from Martin Manufacturing of Scottsdale, Ariz. under the trade name Martin Mini. A scooter is disclosed with a steerable front wheel and rear wheel. The front wheel steers and the rear wheel is motor driven. The reader can see and understand that the scooter in Patmont, U.S. Pat. No. 4,821,832 is a rigid frame with no provision other than the flexure of the frame made for suspension, also U.S. Pat. No. 6,012,539 again, no provision is made for suspension. U.S. Pat. No. 5,388,659 also shows a folding motor scooter with no provision made for suspension. There has arisen a need for suspension systems on small-motorized scooters to help make driving over uneven surfaces safer, easier, with greater comfort and speed.
Originally, scooters were made with rigid frames. This made for difficulty in driving over rough terrain, this problem has been partly solved by the implementation of shock absorbing means in the addition of pneumatic tires, but these scooters still had significant problems driving over rough terrain, U.S. Pat. No. 6,012,539 shows an all terrain scooter with pneumatic tires, this failed to solved the problem of driving over an uneven terrain because the pneumatic tires did not have sufficient shock absorbing capacities. A provision needed to be made in the frame of the scooter to absorb shock. Folding motorcycles and mini bikes, mostly use suspension in their frames to overcome road irregularities. However, due to the simplicity of folding scooters, no one has incorporated shock-absorbing frame to absorb road irregularities. Because placement of the motor required close proximity to the rear wheel, swing arms for independent movement of the rear wheel as used in motorcycles was impractical due to the length of the swing arm and forward placement of the motor. By leaving the motor in place over the rear wheel and pivoting the frame, the problem of incorporating suspension is overcome. Although this suspension does not allow the motor to be isolated from road shock, the longer lever of the pivoting frame causes less movement to the motor than a short swing arm would, also the operator of the vehicle enjoys the benefits of suspension with the platform from which he rides being suspended and isolated from road irregularities due to the action of the pivoting frame and the shock absorber mounted between the frame halves. By mounting the shock absorber on top of the frame allows for the use of a commonly available shock absorber from the mountain bike industry, this brings about a cost saving over developing a specialty shock absorber or spring for this application. A more effective suspension is realized due to the pivoting the frame, instead of a short swing arm, because of the longer lever arm that the pivoting frame permits, which allows for the scooter frame to follow larger uneven surfaces better than a shorter swing arm.
An all terrain suspension scooter is provided with a large central tubular chassis having two central brackets supporting a platform. At the front of the tubular chassis bends upward through a notch in the platform upward above the front wheel to support a steering head tube. The steering head tube supports a fork that holds the front wheel. The rear wheel is contained in a supporting bracket which also holds the engine relative to the rear wheel allowing it to be operatively connected, possibly the bracket supports the fuel tank. The central tubular member is pivoted somewhere along its length so that the frame halves can rotate in respect to each other along the pivot line. Rotation between frame halves is resisted by a shock absorber with either end mounted to the respective frame halves. When driving over uneven terrain, the weight of the rider forces down upon the rider""s platform that is connected to one or the other halves of the frame. Subsequently the frame halves pivot allowing the platform a downward motion that is absorbed by the shock absorber which is connected to the two frame halves, this suspension system allows the user to transverse uneven terrain with greater comfort, control and safety.